New to astrophotography, and i appreciate your advice on what to buy!

I would recommend buying used equipment. You can often find equipment on the usual marketplaces for around 60-70% of the original price, and usually without any major signs of wear.

This is a viable strategy, especially if your budget is limited. I bought most of my equipment second-hand myself and have never had any problems with it.

Agree with others that the EQ6r Pro is a great mount to start with. It will carry most scopes that you'd want to explore and try over time. It's a bit heavier so if you will be carrying it a long distance frequently for setup, a strain wave mount or perhaps one of the ioptron CEM mounts (the CEM 40 would be roughly equivalent in payload capacity to the EQ6r) would be worth considering, as they are much lighter weight with similar payload capacity.

I really like my C9.25, but the long focal length and slower f/ ratio require some patience to deliver good results. Also, if it's windy where you are, the larger telescope tube may act a bit like a sail and ruin some exposures… that's an issue I frequently contend with.

Furthermore, imaging newts are awesome when you get them dialed in and if you don't mind regularly tinkering with them, but they need frequent collimation, which for people new to the hobby, may not be as fun as just grabbing your scope, mounting it, and getting started with your imaging routine. Otherwise, a 6-10” imaging Newtonian is a very versatile instrument!

I would recommend you consider a short to mid focal length refractor, something in the 300mm to 700mm focal length range, and around f/7 or faster focal ratio. Most f/7 triplet refractors have a .8x reducer available which will take them down to a nice f/5.6 and slightly wider-view focal length… I would say that an 80-110mm f/7 triplet refractor with reducer would be a great starter scope. Something like that or a 4-5 element flat-field petzval refractor would bring you the most enjoyment, as you would be able to spend more time imaging and less time tinkering (unless of course you prefer the tinkering part!)

Your camera, guide camera, and guide scope selections make sense, but may I suggest the 585mc Air? It would cost about the same as all those elements and having the guiding camera and computer controller built-in would really simplify setup for you.

The EQ6r Pro and 585mc Air in the US right now would cost you about $2900 USD if you bought them new, leaving you with about $600 for the scope… you could save about $600-800 if you found a used EQ6r Pro. (I haven't seen many 585mc Air on the classifieds yet, however ZWO usually has a holiday sale in December in the US that's typically about 10% off, so that may be worth waiting for on the 585mc Air.) That would leave you with about $1200-1400 for a scope, which could get you a very nice refractor new or used, including a reducer/flattener if you need one. It may even leave you with a little money leftover for other accessories, such as a filter drawer and UV/IR filter and/or narrowband filter. Definitely check the classifieds for used equipment first!

Without giving specific suggestions, I would suggest staying away from Celestron. Their mounts specifically are some of the worst on the market. Like others said, the EQ6R is a great mount that you can grow into. The mount is also the most important piece of gear. If you don’t care about shiny and new, the Atlas EQ-G is the older version of the EQ6R. Some differences but still very capable.

I would also recommend staying away from longer focal lengths. It was mentioned prior but a nice 70 or 80mm refractor is a PERFECT place to start. They’re often available used for well under 1K.

The 585 is a very powerful sensor, but it’s also a very small one. I suggest staying away from longer focal lengths with this camera as you will be oversampled and lack any meaningful field of view. Ideally I’d strongly suggest stepping into an IMX571, however it’s probably going to push you over budget. With a 70 or 80mm ~F/5 scope, you should still be alright combining the 585.

Konrad Krebs · Nov 11, 2025, 02:04 PM

I would recommend buying used equipment. You can often find equipment on the usual marketplaces for around 60-70% of the original price, and usually without any major signs of wear.

This is a viable strategy, especially if your budget is limited. I bought most of my equipment second-hand myself and have never had any problems with it.

i don’t have this option in Morocco, I’m planning to buy it from Europe and do a tax refund

The obvious drawback of my suggestion is the lack of support for planetary imaging, but as already pointed out: you can`t have it all with one rig.

Mohamed Barrouh · Nov 12, 2025 at 12:41 PM

ScottF · Nov 11, 2025, 03:26 PM

An EQ6 would be a better mount choice. If you need it to be portable, then a strain wave mount such as a skywatcher 150i or Zwo AM5N would be good choices with capacity to grow into.

One thing about telescopes, there really isn’t one scope that can do it all, the objects in the sky vary greatly in size and you’ll find needing a couple of different scopes over time is likely. The 8” edge is a great scope, but the focal length is long, the camera you are considering is a small sensor so the FOV will be small, and will be more challenging to use compared to a shorter refractor like in the 100mm aperture range. An Askar 107 PHQ is good choice. The learning curve on a refractor will be much easier due to the shorter focal length. There are many beautiful nebula that will keep you busy in the wider FOV. Just my 2 cents, YMMV

Thank you for your suggestions, what do you think if getting the Canon 60DA as a camera? The logic is that astro cams are very expensive, and if you want to sell them later in Morocco, it won’t be possible

I used a modified 60D for years and Astro with a dslr is certainly doable. However, a cooled Astro camera makes calibration much easier and predictable, so a dedicated cooled camera is an advantage. You might consider a qhyminicam8, it’s a small sensor, but would pair well with an smaller refractor and the price is reasonable.

kuechlew · Nov 12, 2025, 12:23 PM

As someone who is just about to try to leave the beginner stage I’d suggest a totally different approach: start into the hobby with a Seestar or a Dwarf and get your first experience. The idea is to learn the night sky, to find out which targets you find most interesting and to practice image processing with Siril or some other free astro suite. In addition you may use the time to save some additional money if possible. The 400-500$ will be well spent.. From my own experience I’m supporting Astro Hopper’s recommendation to stay away from very long focal lengths as a beginner.

The obvious drawback of my suggestion is the lack of support for planetary imaging, but as already pointed out: you can`t have it all with one rig.

Alternatively if you already own a camera and a lens you may invest in a star tracker and follow the youtube videos of Nebula Photos by Nick Carver for your first steps into the hobby.

With 3000 EUR you have a very limited budget in this expensive hobby, so spending it on the wrong equipment will hurt you a lot. Therefore my suggestion to start slow and to delay the final decission until you have some own experience.

Good luck and clear skies!

Thank you for your suggestions.

To be honest, I’m trying to avoid anything fully automated… but i already consider it, looks interesting, I can easily recognize the objects in the sky, i used my iPhone and a tripod.

Will try to consider all the options I have; it's an expensive hobby, but worth it 10000%.

Mohamed Barrouh · Nov 12, 2025 at 01:38 PM

kuechlew · Nov 12, 2025, 12:23 PM

As someone who is just about to try to leave the beginner stage I’d suggest a totally different approach: start into the hobby with a Seestar or a Dwarf and get your first experience. The idea is to learn the night sky, to find out which targets you find most interesting and to practice image processing with Siril or some other free astro suite. In addition you may use the time to save some additional money if possible. The 400-500$ will be well spent.. From my own experience I’m supporting Astro Hopper’s recommendation to stay away from very long focal lengths as a beginner.

The obvious drawback of my suggestion is the lack of support for planetary imaging, but as already pointed out: you can`t have it all with one rig.

Alternatively if you already own a camera and a lens you may invest in a star tracker and follow the youtube videos of Nebula Photos by Nick Carver for your first steps into the hobby.

With 3000 EUR you have a very limited budget in this expensive hobby, so spending it on the wrong equipment will hurt you a lot. Therefore my suggestion to start slow and to delay the final decission until you have some own experience.

Good luck and clear skies!

Thank you for your suggestions.

To be honest, I’m trying to avoid anything fully automated… but i already consider it, looks interesting, I can easily recognize the objects in the sky, i used my iPhone and a tripod.

Will try to consider all the options I have; it's an expensive hobby, but worth it 10000%.

There are many objects that you can’t see that you will want to image once you get started that will be very difficult to center on by eye alone, so don’t discount things like an asiair that will plate solve and do the heavy lifting for you.

andrea tasselli · Nov 12, 2025, 02:06 PM

Mohamed Barrouh:
i agree with you, but to be honest, I saw some reviews for Newtonian telescopes yesterday, it looks hard to work with, but the mount is solid 100%.

*Modern newtons are much better built than they were when I started many years ago but certainly you need not to be scared of collimation and use the right approach and tools but so does a C8. A slowish f/5 isn't hard to tame and put right but then again it all depends on how proficient you tend to be around mechanics.

Found this https://www.ebay.es/itm/144200639288, looks nice to be honest, and way cheaper than Celestron.

And btw, I’m considering using a Canon camera (probably a used Canon EOS 60Da), what do you think?

TiffsAndAstro · Nov 12, 2025, 02:57 PM

Svbony are selling my cooled imx533 astro cam for £260 on sale at the moment.

This is a good point. There are some other competitors to ZWO that offer similar equipment for less. SVBony is one of them. Touptek another.

If you do go this route, you will to use a laptop or miniPC (such as a MeLee Quieter 4c or one of the many other options) to control the setup with software such as NINA, rather than the ASIAir Software that’s controlled from your phone or tablet. You can save some money this way, but it’s hard to argue against the fact that the ZWO ASIAIR ecosystem is very user friendly for beginners. Many people that have more experience in the hobby tend to go the miniPC/NINA route, as it offers more customization and control over your imaging session, but is a little less “plug and play.” Again, if you like to tinker or if you’re more experienced, this is a great option, but I often recommend the ZWO ASIAir route for beginners because you’ll spend less time tinkering and more time gathering data and producing images.

Mohamed Barrouh · Nov 12, 2025, 12:51 PM

Thank you, David, for your suggestions

For the Weather, here is mostly clear sky and low wind, except in winter, I’m on the Mediterranean side, so the weather is not a big problem.

The main reason I chose the Celestron 8" EdgeHD is that it is easy and gives u an easy start into astrophotography.

The problem is I’m in Morocco and I don’t have the possibility to buy used equipment, I will probably go to Europe and buy it, and request a tax refund hahah.

What do you think if i used Canon 60DA as a camera?

A DSLR would certainly work. I started with a Canon EOS R and a William Optics Redcat 51. What I will say is that I feel like I should have just started with a dedicated astronomy camera 😂

Lots of people get fantastic results with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, however, in my opinion, there’s two major drawbacks to using a DSLR when compared a dedicated astro camera. First and foremost, the dedicated astro camera’s sensor is wildly more sensitive than the DSLR. I was blown away by how much more light it collected compared to the DSLR after I made the switch. Second, you will need to take calibration frames every night (including dark frames). You need to do it every night since the sensor isn’t cooled to a specific temperature. So you can’t utilize a dark library, and instead will spend at least an hour each night taking calibration frames instead of capturing photons from your target.

I’m not based in Europe, so I’m not sure of the best places to shop for equipment there, but I know some of them also offer used equipment as well, which will probably come at a 10-25% discount off of the new price, which again, would work well for your budget in my opinion. Perhaps others can offer suggestions of who to shop with. For instance, I know of TS-Optics because I browsed their website while looking to buy a newtonian. For about 3,000 Euro, my shopping list for a complete kit might look like this:

Mount: iOptron GEM28 (1,299)

Main Camera/Guiding Camera/Computer: 585MC Air (999)

Scope: TS-Optics Photoline 80mm APO with Reducer Corrector (799)

That would put you right around 3100 Euro for a nice kit at 450mm focal length and f/5.6 focal ratio that should yield very nice results. You can search by equipment on astrobin and see what others have captured with the same mount, scope and/or camera.

If you’re willing to go a little over that total, the first accessory I would recommend is a ZWO EAF autofocuser (239)

I believe the 585MC AIR has a IR cut glass, so you would be ok without a UV/IR filter and filter drawer, but that would be the next upgrade down the road, if you chose to do so.

Nonetheless, there’s lots of options out there of how to build out an astrophoto rig, but this would be what I would recommend if I were starting the hobby today… it’s simple to assemble and will get you imaging pretty quickly and should yield some very nice results.

There’s other scopes you could try around that price (Askar has a flat field scope around the same FL but slower at f/6.7, so you’ll need more data to achieve similar results.) Or you could try the aforementioned miniPC route with non ZWO equipment to save some money, and they would all produce nice results, but you will spend a bit more time getting the software all set up.